iPods and other mysteries of life
So, in a recent post (I really wish I knew how to make a nifty little linky thing, but the title of the post is "Whew! That was a close one!") I mentioned my great relief at not having to break down and buy a Celine Dion CD, since she is the current queen of schmaltz.
DJ (a loyal reader of the blog) then recommended that I buy myself on of those new-fangled iPod gadgets, which are available on the Interwebs. And my baby sister tried to gently prod me to drop my Luddite tendencies and submit to the technology autocracy. (You MUST submit. Resistance is futile.)
Here's the thing. I really don't get it. I don't get 99% of the technology breakthroughs which seem to happen about once a week these days. You may think I'm being all, "Oh shucks, I'm just a girl - and technology is hard!" about this, but IT IS. I'm not kidding. Keep in mind that I am just a leetle bit ahead of the tech curve - I never had to take a computer class at school, for instance, and we got the family Atari when I was a little too old to really want to play it. Plus, I'm a product of Detroit Public Schools (and, yes, I can say that in Ebonics, if pushed). The Detroit Public Schools are not where you want your children to go. So, although I have a natural aptitude for languages, literature and history, I suffer from not only having really bad math and science teachers, but also not having had ANY math or science classes for a year in junior high (I wish I were joking).
And, quite frankly, I don't understand how ANYONE keeps up with this stuff. To that end, I have started reading both Popular Science and Popular Mechanics, because I recognize that I'm deficient. I am trying to learn this stuff, honest. But it changes so quickly, and I have no idea where to look for much of the info, so...it's not pretty. Just ask The Canuck. He spends an inordinate amount of time attempting to explain tech stuff to me. What a nice guy!
So, why am I reluctant to get an iPod? Because I have many questions that have not been answered. Like what? Feast your eyes...
What happens if I drop the iPod and kill it? Is all the music just GONE? Where IS IT?? Has it gone to the land of the trolls, far beneath the earth? See, if I take my "Christmas with the Rat Pack" CD and put those songs onto my iPod, and then I give away the CD, and something bad happens to my iPod, I have nothing. Just air. I mean, there isn't a device inside the iPod that's holding all that music, right? Because it would have to be really big to hold all of those CDs. A CD only holds so much info, as we all know. I mean, if I break my highly sophisticated home stereo system (aka my boombox) right now, I just have to replace the boombox. All the CDs are fine. I've never had a CD die on me. That's why I like stuff I can touch. I know where it is.
Also, what happens when the inevitable happens and the iPod is not being used anymore? I mean, I'm not quite old enough to have HAD any 8 tracks, but I'm just guessing that the poor schlub who got a major 8 track collection going regretted it in the end. Likewise the guy with the laserdisc collection. If I download a bunch of songs and the technology changes, do I have to re-purchase all that music?
Also, let's pretend that I get myself an iPod nano, and it holds 50% of my music. Where do I keep the other 50%? And when I want to switch it out, how do I do that? And then, when I buy whatever the "next iPod" is, how do I transition?
It's all very confusing, and it makes my brain hurt. And NO ONE has ever been able to explain it to me so that I can understand it.
And THAT is why I haven't bought an iPod.
Go ahead. Laugh.
DJ (a loyal reader of the blog) then recommended that I buy myself on of those new-fangled iPod gadgets, which are available on the Interwebs. And my baby sister tried to gently prod me to drop my Luddite tendencies and submit to the technology autocracy. (You MUST submit. Resistance is futile.)
Here's the thing. I really don't get it. I don't get 99% of the technology breakthroughs which seem to happen about once a week these days. You may think I'm being all, "Oh shucks, I'm just a girl - and technology is hard!" about this, but IT IS. I'm not kidding. Keep in mind that I am just a leetle bit ahead of the tech curve - I never had to take a computer class at school, for instance, and we got the family Atari when I was a little too old to really want to play it. Plus, I'm a product of Detroit Public Schools (and, yes, I can say that in Ebonics, if pushed). The Detroit Public Schools are not where you want your children to go. So, although I have a natural aptitude for languages, literature and history, I suffer from not only having really bad math and science teachers, but also not having had ANY math or science classes for a year in junior high (I wish I were joking).
And, quite frankly, I don't understand how ANYONE keeps up with this stuff. To that end, I have started reading both Popular Science and Popular Mechanics, because I recognize that I'm deficient. I am trying to learn this stuff, honest. But it changes so quickly, and I have no idea where to look for much of the info, so...it's not pretty. Just ask The Canuck. He spends an inordinate amount of time attempting to explain tech stuff to me. What a nice guy!
So, why am I reluctant to get an iPod? Because I have many questions that have not been answered. Like what? Feast your eyes...
What happens if I drop the iPod and kill it? Is all the music just GONE? Where IS IT?? Has it gone to the land of the trolls, far beneath the earth? See, if I take my "Christmas with the Rat Pack" CD and put those songs onto my iPod, and then I give away the CD, and something bad happens to my iPod, I have nothing. Just air. I mean, there isn't a device inside the iPod that's holding all that music, right? Because it would have to be really big to hold all of those CDs. A CD only holds so much info, as we all know. I mean, if I break my highly sophisticated home stereo system (aka my boombox) right now, I just have to replace the boombox. All the CDs are fine. I've never had a CD die on me. That's why I like stuff I can touch. I know where it is.
Also, what happens when the inevitable happens and the iPod is not being used anymore? I mean, I'm not quite old enough to have HAD any 8 tracks, but I'm just guessing that the poor schlub who got a major 8 track collection going regretted it in the end. Likewise the guy with the laserdisc collection. If I download a bunch of songs and the technology changes, do I have to re-purchase all that music?
Also, let's pretend that I get myself an iPod nano, and it holds 50% of my music. Where do I keep the other 50%? And when I want to switch it out, how do I do that? And then, when I buy whatever the "next iPod" is, how do I transition?
It's all very confusing, and it makes my brain hurt. And NO ONE has ever been able to explain it to me so that I can understand it.
And THAT is why I haven't bought an iPod.
Go ahead. Laugh.
posted by The Big Seester | 10:30 AM
5 Comments:
Hi DJ,
Ah...soooo. We all have our little weaknesses, don't we? And here I'm feeling guilty and thinking, Gosh it's not like I watch every single one of those TV shows each week! Then it turns out you simply have a different hobby (and more expensive - I don't even have cable!) I feel vindicated!
Thanks for all the info. A couple of follow-up questions:
OK, if I can rephrase: each song is changed into a different format called an MP3 (which I have actually heard of) or an AAC. This is compressed from the space a song takes up on a CD. (Right?) Sooo...in other words, CDs have become vinyl records? Remember how amazed we were when we saw a CD and realized that what fit on 2 sides of a 33 fit on 1 side of a much smaller CD? So why are we still buying CDs? I mean, why would I want a 5" square disk if I can have a 1" square (or however big an MP3 is?
OK, you can SAY digital audio is going nowhere, but really. In my lifetime (I'm 30-something) I have seen vinyl records, 8-tracks, cassette tapes and CDs. There WILL be something else eventually. We just don't know what it is yet. Remember Beta? So will there be a method of transferring the info at that time? (You're speaking to someone who has 2 or 3 cassette tapes she WILL not give up, so even though cassettes are dead as the dodo, she must have a cassette player because of these tapes, which are apparently not available on CD. Oh. Is there a way to transfer the cassettes to this nifty MP3 thingie?)
Isn't it against copyright to burn the songs onto a CD from my home computer Harmony House?
I don't mean the next version of iPod (the 2008 edition) I mean whatever the next technology will be. I mean, they are putting music on cell phones and so forth. Maybe in a few years an iPod will be as antiquated as a Walkman (which was way cool in the 80s).
I also know that people tend to upgrade their iPod technology almost yearly, as the technology improves so quickly. I know I sound like your Great Depression Era Grandma when I say this, but: How wasteful is that? It really bothers me to see how much money gets wasted on this kind of cr*p. And even though it's none of my business if other people want to waste their money, I'd just as soon mine stayed in my pocket as much as possible, since there will be no social security for me. I nearly had a coniption (sp?) fit when I tried to let Clam use my old cell phone for her purposes and the guy at Verizon told her that the phone was too old. (It's only 3 years old!)
So what I try to do is wait until the technology becomes cheap enough and well-established enough that I don't get ripped off (I don't yet own a DVD-Recorder, for example, but the next one I buy probably will be.)
The other concern I have is that... how do I put this nicely? Hmmm. I have... sophisticated taste in music. Yes. That sounds nice. I don't imagine that iTunes has the kind of music I would be looking for. (I'm not into Christian Aguilera, for example.) Do they have "broadcast radio" variety or REAL variety????
Is that enough followup questions? Do you kind of see what The Clam and The Canuck have to put up with?
OH! Also, how much space does this take up on your computer???
Follow-up Questions:
1. How many iPods have you bought in the last 5 years?
2. You can't listen to the actual radio with an iPod, can you?
3. How much space does all this music take up on your computer?
4. Do you think the technology is advanced enough that if I dropped the $200, I wouldn't have to buy another one in a year?
5. I'm not particularly into having earphones stuck in my ears - I mean, I'm either at home or I'm in the car - I don't do much that would necessitate me having to have portable music (like The Canuck spending 4 hours on the train every week). What if I just want to listen to music at home - how can I do that?
6. I know about podcasts (cool!) but what about TV shows and/or movies - have you done that at all? How well does that work?
I told you I'm a PITA!!!
Wait - you have iBook? Is that like the eBook Reader thingie that I have seen reviewed in multiple places?
How do you like THAT???
Tree Killer!!!
I don't think the eBook Reader is where it should be before I would get one. It's a neat concept, if it doesn't strain my eyes. I love the idea of having a library in the palm of my hand.
I was telling The Canuck on the telefono last night that I have this FANTASY product. I don't think it exists, but I could be wrong - TC seems to think that it might. Here's my dream:
An eBook Reader-type gadget which would be specifically for Cookbooks - so that you could purchase your cookbooks digitally. You could also scan (or data entry) your other recipes (Mom's recipe for orange chocolate cake, for instance). Then, the eBook Reader would have a search function: you could either search for a particular recipe, or you could search for "chicken" or "sweet potatoes" just to see what's out there. It would also have a shopping list function, and you could (of course) take it with you to the grocery store. Then, as an added bonus, it would mount on a cupboard door (like a space saver radio, but on the cupboard, not under the cupboard) over your prep area for easy reference, and so you don't spill molasses on it. (Which I would.)
What do you think about that???
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